The Ink Inscription Revelation
by Thexa
Summary: Remember when Leonard went to Kurt's place to ask for the money Kurt had to give back to Penny, in 2 x 14, "The Financial Permeability" ? Leonard came back with an inscription on his forehead and Kurt gave the money back to Penny without telling her it was thanks to Leonard. We never heard from it again. In this story, Penny finds out about what Leonard did. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1 : Confused

_Remember when Leonard went to Kurt's place to ask for the money Kurt had to give back to Penny, in 2 x 14, "The Financial Permeability" ? Poor Leonard came back with an inscription on his forehead and Kurt gave the money back to Penny without telling her it was thanks to Leonard. We never heard from it again. Well, I think Penny HAS to know what Leonard did..._

 _So this is taking place well after season 2... It's in season 6, after "The Decoupling Fluctuation", when Penny wasn't sure about her relationship with Leonard. She learns a secret and it will help her to see clearer._

 _I hope you'll like this story as much as I enjoyed writing it :)_

* * *

 **Chapter 1 : Confused**

Penny left Bernadette's apartment thinking about last night. If Leonard had not made _those_ eyes, would she really have had the guts to tell him that she wanted to think about their relationship, that she needed space and time ? Does she have the guts to do it now ? After the text she receveid ? No. No. Does Leonard have a clue ? Is that why he made those eyes yesterday ? Penny had the day off from work, and she knew she was going to spend all her free time wondering about what she should do. _"Damn Leonard and his puppy eyes !"_ , she said angrily through her teeth, in her car, driving back to her building. She was lost. She didn't want to lose him, she didn't want to hurt him, and she definitely had strong feelings for him, but at the same time she sometimes wondered what were those feelings exactly. Maybe she was just overthinking... Talking with the girls didn't help, they didn't give her any advice. She needed a fresh point of view.

Climbing the stairs, she smiled to herself while considering what were her options in term of fresh point of view of her relationship with Leonard : Howard – who was up in space -, Raj – who still couldn't talk to her without drinking alcohol -, and Sheldon... who... well... Sheldon. She knew Leonard was away for the day whereas Sheldon was at home. She was now at the fourth floor, and she knocked briefly on 4A before opening the door and popping her head. She saw Sheldon alone in front of a white board, writing stuff she didn't even bother to read.

" _Hey Sheldon, are you busy ?"_ quickly asked Penny.

Sheldon turned promptly his head, looked at Penny for a second, closed his eyes and sighed while shooking his head, clearly already exasperated : _"Penny... I'm ALWAYS busy."_

Penny felt this wasn't the time to try to discuss things like her relationship with Leonard with him, so she apologized : _"Ooops, sorry Sheldon, I'm going away !"_

But she couldn't close the door, because Sheldon raised his right hand, interromping her : _"Penny ! Now I can't go back to work ! You cut me off in the middle of my brilliant work, and if I never have a Nobel Prize – which I highly doubt – this would be your fault, but I'm now bothered by the fact that I want to know what you wanted from me. Now please enter and make yourself comfortable."_

Sheldon said the last sentence with a weird smile on his face and Penny was confused, her eyes grewing bigger and her mouth lightly open. She quickly blinked a few times to come back to reality, then entered the apartment and sat on the couch.

" _Okay, Sheldon, this isn't easy..."_ she started, but Sheldon interrupted her : _"Mmm, pretty sure it is. THIS"_ , he added showing his board, _"isn't easy."_

Penny wanted to yell at him but she knew he wouldn't understand, so she bit her bottom lip and continued as if Sheldon had not said a thing : _"I'm sure you remember that Amy told you about my insecurities about my relationship with Leonard, and we discussed it in the middle of the night and..."_

Sheldon closed his eyes and exhaled loudly : _"Arh, not this again..."_

Again, Penny pretented she didn't hear her friend and asked : _"You haven't told anything to Leonard, have you ?"_

Sheldon sat down next to Penny, answering : _"No. This was hard for me. So I tried to make him understand with a lovely metaphore with Transformers, but of course he didn't get it."_

Hearing the last sentence and the "of course he didn't get it", Penny was hurt and wanted to stand up for her man, but she felt it wasn't the right time, especially considering she needed his (probably weird, but eh, it was better than nothing) point of view. So she continued : _"OK, look, I know that you want me to continue to date Leonard – you have your very particular reasons..."_

Again, Sheldon cut her off : _"And did you change your shampoo ?"_

Exasperated, Penny glared at him and resumed after a few seconds : _"It's just that Leonard is so different from the other guys that I used to date. Remember Kurt ? Zack ?"_

Sheldon snorted. _"How could I forget them ? The bully and the dolphin..."_

Penny was taken aback by the last nickname and stared at Sheldon with a puzzled look for a few seconds, before speaking again : _"The dol... ?! Never mind."_

Sheldon couldn't help but continue to reflect on both guys Penny had just mentioned : _"At least Zack was quite nice. Kurt was just an animal. Last time we saw him, Raj almost wet himself."_

Once again, Penny was confused, because for all she knew, Kurt and Raj were in the same room only one time in their life, at the Halloween party she threw when she was just starting to know her new friends : _"What ?"_

Penny tried hard to remember – it was a long time ago – but at her Halloween party, she didn't see any interaction between Raj and Kurt. She wondered if she was going to regret that (with Sheldon and his explanations you never know...), but she had to ask : _"What are you talking about ?"_

* * *

 **To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter 2 : Learning A Secret

**Chapter 2 : Learning A Secret**

Reminder of the last chapter :

 _Penny tried hard to remember – it was a long time ago – but at her Halloween party, she didn't see any interaction between Raj and Kurt. She wondered if she was going to regret that (with Sheldon and his explanations you never know...), but she had to ask : "What are you talking about ?"_

* * *

Sheldon shrugged a bit and told her with a quiet voice : _"Oh, you know, the time we went at his apartment. Leonard dragged us there."_

It was getting more and more confusing for Penny and she didn't even took the time to think before pushing Sheldon for a better answer : _"I'm sorry Sheldon you'll have to be more specific. The only time you went at Kurt's place was when we first met, and I don't remember Raj being there."_

Still totally unaware of Penny obvious confusion and need for answers, Sheldon only replied : _"Oh no, no. Not this time. Although this also shows how brutal he always was."_

Penny wanted to shake Sheldon so he could give her the information she wanted so badly, but she knew it would be useless, so, she tried to ask calmly : _"What time then ?"_

" _You know, when Kurt owned you some money."_

" _I don't get it."_

Seeing the puzzled look on Penny's face, Sheldon sighed : _"It's actually pretty simple. Kurt owned you 1 800 dollars, so Leonard had one of his crazy ideas and made us go with him to see Kurt. You know, trying to play the hero card."_

" _To see him ?"_

" _Yeah, you know, to give you the money back."_ Sheldon was remaining perfectly calm while Penny was boiling inside, and this time it was too much for her and she yelled at his friend :

" _Sheldon, stop saying 'you know' when you clearly see THAT I DON'T KNOW !"_

It was Sheldon's turn to be puzzled : _"Why are you mad ?"_

" _I'm mad because you're telling me these things as if I knew about it while I'm just learning everything, and you don't even explain correctly !"_ Penny continued, still screaming and throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

" _Okay, fair enough. Want to hear the whole story ?"_

" _Yes !"_

" _You won't interrupt me ?"_

" _No !"_

" _Not even to say "Oh My God" ?"_

" _TELL ME !"_ 'If you don't, I'll strangle you I swear', she added mentally.

Penny needed now so badly to hear the whole story. What had Leonard done again ? How come she never heard from it during all these years ? Why hadn't he never mentionned that to her, even when they were dating ? So when Sheldon started to tell her what happened, she was all ears and her heart was beating faster than usual.

" _Well, Raj, Howard and I were playing a game, and Leonard came in and proposed to go on a real quest. He explained that Kurt owned you a lot of money and that he was going to get that money from him. We really didn't want to go, obviously, and I reminded him that the last time we went there, we came back with no pants. But he didn't care and claimed he wasn't afraid of him. If you want my honest opinion, he actually WAS afraid, that's why he asked us to go with him... Anyway, somehow we went with him. This time, we remembered how to open the door of the building. It was so funny, Howard wanted to..."_

Oh my God, how long the story was going to last with Sheldon's love for details ? Penny tried to listen but she didn't care : all she wanted to hear were the parts where Leonard was involved, so she urged Sheldon to stop talking about Howard : _"Sheldon please come back to the main story !"_

" _Why are you so upset ? You're not the one who had to go to Kurt's place..."_

Seeing the glare Penny was giving him, Sheldon felt it wasn't the moment to irritate her even more. _"Anyway... He opened the door and couldn't remember me, can you believe it ?"_

" _No"_ was Penny honest answer. It was also the best answer if she wanted to hear the whole story as soon as possible.

" _Thank you, aren't you sweet ?! Well, Leonard explained you had some financial issues and that if he could give you the money he owned you, it would be a nice gesture."_

Penny was surprised : the guys only had to ask nicely, and Kurt gave her the money back ? _"That's it ? That's really nice of..."_

Sheldon shook his head, looking down : _"Oh no Penny, no... Let me remind you of what I've said earlier : Kurt is a bully, an animal. He slammed the door at us."_

That made more sense to Penny, but she was disappointed : _"Oh..."_

" _We were all quite happy because we were free, with no scars or pants stolen... But, see, Leonard made a terrible mistake : he told us we could leave if we wanted. Of course we left."_

Penny was surprised : Leonard didn't leave too ? Wasn't he afraid to confront Kurt alone ? _"And you left Leonard all by himself against Kurt ?"_

" _Correct."_

Penny was stunned : even without his friend to support him, Leonard still had the courage to continue his "quest". _"What happened ? Leonard confronted Kurt ?"_

" _Yes. He told Kurt he wasn't leaving without your money. How naive ! Kurt told him he was going to give him something, so Leonard was all proud... for a second or so. Kurt came back with a black marker."_

" _I don't get it..."_ Was he going to write a check ? Clearly not with a marker... What had Kurt done ?

" _Let me finish. With the marker, he wrote on Leonard's forehead : 'I OWE PENNY $1 800, KURT'. We were so surprised when we all saw him coming back. We certainly didn't expect that. There wasn't any spelling error ! Unbelievable, uh ?"_

Penny was horrified, she couldn't say a thing.

Sheldon carried on : _"Oh, and the next day, when you came to tell him that Kurt had finally given you the money back... Leonard was so proud, but when he understood that Kurt never told you what happened and that – on the top of it – you were going to dinner together the next night, he felt so stupid... Especially with the hat he had on his head to mask the ink ! You know he wore that hat at least for..."_

Penny couldn't believe what Sheldon was telling her, she couldn't listen more to it, she felt so bad for Leonard, and so stupid for thinking at the time that Kurt could have changed just like that.

She exclaimed : _"OH MY GOD ! Why didn't you tell me that at the time ?"_

Sheldon seemed taken aback : _"Mmmm, you didn't ask."_

Penny put her head in her hands and bent over, so her hands and her head were touching her knees : _"I feel terrible..."_

Next to her, Sheldon wanted badly to add something : _"May I say something ? You interrupted me AND said "Oh My God"."_

Penny suddenly got up, yelling : _"I DON'T CARE SHELDON ! For God sake don't you see how upset I am ?"_

Again, Sheldon was more confused than anything else : _"You know how bad I am to tell how other feel, you shouldn't be surprised..."_

Penny couldn't even stand Sheldon's voice now, she wanted a remote to mute him. She anxiously asked : _"When does Leonard come back ?"_

" _Around six I think. Why ?"_

Penny breathed in and spoke to herself : _"Okay... So I have something like four hours..."_

Sheldon shook his head : _"Penny, Penny, Penny... Listen to yourself ! "Something like four hours"... You have exactly four hours, nine minutes and ten... nine... eight... seven sec..."_

" _Oh shut up Sheldon !"_ said Penny while getting up and exiting the apartment.

She had to think about it, alone. Her mind was a total mess. She had four hours to herself, to try to see clearer. And she definitely had to thank him, it was about time.

* * *

 **To Be Continued...**


	3. Chapter 3 : Time To Think

_Thank you for your reviews :) This chapter is short but the next one will be longer I promise._

* * *

 **Chapter 3 : Time To Think**

Once in her own apartment, Penny went straight to her bedroom and laid down on her bed. Her head was almost hurting, because of all the new informations and what they meant for her. For Leonard and her. For their relationship.

He confronted Kurt alone. He faced his fears. For her. He never told her, so he didn't do it for recognition. Just by kindness. Just by love. His love for her.

He let her go to that dinner with Kurt, not saying anything. He let her choose. He let her living her life while he was crazy in love. He suffered, for sure.

Why didn't he tell her later ? He surely didn't forget. My God, he didn't even get a "thank you" ! Did Sheldon, or Howard, or Raj, congratulated him for what he did ? Probably not. Wasn't he afraid to get beaten up by Kurt ? And the ink, my God... That's why he wore that hat all those days. She thought he had found a new fashion style in one of his movies. How could she have thought that it was because he had something written on his forehead, and by Kurt ?!

How she could have been so stupid ? Of course Kurt didn't change in a night ! He probably was afraid that Leonard told her everything, so he quicky gave her the money back. Thanks to Leonard.

Poor Leonard. At her own surprise, she wasn't feeling pity for him. She felt admirative, proud of him. And she felt in love. More than ever before.

He was HER Leonard. The only one who could do such things for her, waiting for nothing in return (despite what he could have said one time at the movie...). He is brave.

Suddenly she realised something : she liked guys like Kurt and Zack because they were taller and stronger than her and she felt they could protect her. But she never really felt secure in their arms. Leonard was smaller but she felt safe with him. Because he would never do anything that could hurt her. On the contrary, he would always do anything to please her, to make her smile and laugh, to make her happy.

And how was she thanking him ? By doubting their relationship... Just because he was smarter and kinder than all her ex-boyfriends. Combined.

She just wasn't used to it. It seemed abnormal. In a way, it scared her. What had she done to deserve all that attention and love ? _"Penny, don't go there..."_ a little voice in her head warned her.

Anyway, she now understood. Her doubts had nothing to do with love. She was just scared. Scared of hurting him again, scared of all the love she felt for him. Scared of being commited.

She felt a huge relief, aknowledging this. She still was scared about the future, she didn't exactly know where their relationship was going in the long term (and mostly she didn't want to know, it scared her) but she was 100 % sure she loved him and she wanted to stay with him. That was enough for now.

Now, she couldn't stay laying on bed like that for the rest of the day. She had to organize something to Leonard. Maybe she could cook ? Nah, it wouldn't be a "thank you" gesture, not from her... She had to think how she would break the news to him, she had to arrange all her thoughts. She couldn't keep that to herself, Leonard HAD to know how proud she was of him, even if it was four years late.

Most of all, she had to thank him properly and she had to choose the words she could use.

* * *

 **To Be Continued...**


	4. Chapter 4 : Thank You Leonard

_Merry Christmas everyone :) Here is the next chapter, I hope you'll like it._

* * *

 **Chapter 4 : Thank You Leonard**

It was now 6.22 PM. It was like the hundredth time in the evening that Penny had watched that stupid clock. The clock on her phone. The clock on her wall. The clock in her bedroom. Her door was half open, so she could hear when Leonard would come back.

She had two false hopes already : she heard someone coming at 6.03 and 6.17 but they were people from upstairs.

6.23. She was so anxious. She still had no idea of how she would react seeing him. Penny was pacing nervously from her door to her couch when she recognized HIS footsteps. This time, she was sure : it was him. Her heart began racing faster, she opened wide her door, and when she finally saw him her mind was blank. She only could think : _"Great. I spent the whole afternoon preparing myself for that and now I can't say anything."_

Leonard was clearly surprised to find Penny in front of her door : _"Hey you !"_ he smiled. Penny melted at his smile, his so sincere and full of love smile. While Leonard was walking toward her, all Penny could think was how he fought for her, how he defended her, how he confronted Kurt alone. When Leonard finally arrived in front of her, she realized : _"It's MY man."_

He leant for what was supposed to be a quick "good evening" kiss, but as soon as Penny felt his lips on hers, she felt the urge to kiss him deeply. She put her arms behind his neck and closed the gap between their bodies. Leonard was surprised to feel such a passion in Penny's kiss and he didn't understand what was the reason behind it. He started wondering what he had done, or maybe was it meant to be their last kiss ? Was she going to break up with him ? The next second, Penny's right hand grabbed the back of his neck and began to stroke his hair, while her left hand was going up and down his right arm. Leonard lost the control of his thoughts and focused on the kiss : he tightened Penny's waist and held her as close to him as possible. Soon, he felt her tongue making its way to his mouth, and he moaned in pleasure.

The kiss lasted for three of four more seconds before Penny realized that she needed to speak to him. She slowly softened the kiss and ended it by giving Leonard some quick pecks. When she opened her eyes, Leonard still had his closed and he was smiling lightly. This made Penny happy and she chuckled a bit. This soft laugh made Leonard open his eyes. He lovingly gazed into Penny's eyes, his hands still firmly on her waist and hers still behind his neck.

They stared into each others eyes for a few seconds, smiling. Penny was wondering how to bring the "Kurt" topic when Leonard broke the silence : _"So... What have I done to deserve this ? You REALLY liked last night, uh ?"_

For a second, Penny froze hearing a reference to the night before, the night she wanted to end things with him. She stopped smiling and Leonard felt something was wrong and frowned : _"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong ?"_

Penny shook her head to get last night out off her memory and answered : _"No, nothing, don't worry..._ " Saying that, she let Leonard go and sat on her couch. _"Sit next to me",_ she added, motioning the spot next to her on the couch.

" _O-kay"_ agreed Leonard, unsure of what was coming next, and a little bit worried.

" _Sweetie..."_ Penny started and Leonard was relieved : if she called him 'sweetie', she was not going to break up with him, right ? _"I learnt something quite... troubling let's say, today._ _And you're involved."_

Leonard started panicking : what he could possibly had done ? Penny saw the confusion and scare on her boyfriend's face and she put her hands on his to calm him : _"Don't worry ! It's not a bad thing, I promise... I was just really shocked to hear this after so many years, and I'm still wondering why you didn't tell me afterwards..."_

Leonard was totally lost : _"Tell you what ? Penny, what are you talking about ?"_

Penny breathed in deeply : _"Okay, sorry, I should start from the beginning... Today, really by accident, I learnt what you did for me, when we weren't even dating. Do you have any idea of what I'm referring to ?"_

Leonard took some time to reflect : he had done many things to please her, but it was obviously something big to her, and something she didn't know about. His mind was about to explode : _"I'm sorry Penny, I'm REALLY puzzled right now, you'll have to help me..."_

Penny smiled and took Leonard's right hand in her both hands : _"It's okay..."_ She started to nervously play with Leonard's fingers and finally revealed, looking down at her hands : _"I know you went to Kurt's place and asked him to give me my money back..."_ Penny wanted to continue but Leonard laughed and interrupted her _: "Wow, that was a loooooong time ago ! You shouldn't make a big deal out of it"_ , he then shrugged.

Penny shook her head and looked in Leonard's eyes while speaking faster and faster : _"No Leonard, that's not it. I know everything. I know that you really insisted to go with your friends, I know that even though Kurt slammed the door at you, and even though your friends abandonned you, YOU knocked again at his door and YOU stood by your position, which was not leaving without the money. My money. And I know what he did to you... The ink thing..."_

Leonard wasn't smiling anymore, he was petrified. He gulped. Great, now she knew how Kurt humiliated him. He cleared his voice : _"Well... Yeah, you know now how I miserably failed this day..."_

It was Penny's turn to be puzzled : _"What ? Are you kidding ? You didn't fail ! I got my money back ! And I'm so, so, soooooooo,_ _ **SO**_ _sorry of what he did to you ! What a jerk ! I can't believe I thought he had changed at the time..."_

Leonard didn't reply anything. This was coming late, but it felt good. He was even actually surprised how good it felt. He didn't fail. That's what she said. Penny put her both hands on Leonard's chest : _"When I learnt this, I was mad at me, because I didn't see anything, at the time. I was mad at me because I hadn't seen how thoughtful you are, and how you always do things for me, and how I don't even realize all these things you do because you don't tell me, even now I'm sure ! Anyway..."_ Her voice softened : _"... I'm... like ... almost four years late but... I... I want to say what I should have said to you back then : thank you, Leonard Hofstadter. Thank you for having the guts to go and confront him, and not letting go. Thank you for giving me my money back from this giant jerk. I'm so proud of you. Thank you, my hero."_

Penny didn't leave him the time to respond or even to think about what to say or do next : she firmly pressed her lips against his and moved her hands to his face. Leonard was on cloud nine, he definitely didn't expect that speech. Seeing how things turned out, maybe he did the right thing at the time, not telling her what he had done: now he was getting an even better award. The kiss was soft but passionnate. Leonard couldn't help but talk during the kiss : _"It ... means... a lot ... to me... what... you... just said..."_

Penny smiled and stopped the kiss. She leant her forehead on his and kept her eyes closed. While her right hand was now stroking his hair on the neck and her left hand was busy toying his right arm, she whispered : _"Why did you keep this hidden from me ?"_

Leonard shrugged : _"I don't know... I guess I put that humiliating memory far far far faaaaaar away in my brain. So it didn't cross my mind once afterwards... And back then, at the time... you seemed so happy to have another chance with Kurt... I didn't want to upset you. I just wanted you to be happy."_

Penny's heart jolted at those sweet words. She smiled wildly and quickly kissed him before saying : _"You're amazing."_

With Penny's love and recognition for what he did, Leonard's confidence was back : _"Well, if you let me drive you in the bedroom, you'll see how more amazing I can be."_

Penny giggled : _"Oh yeah, show me that !"_

This night, unlike the night before, she wanted it as badly as him. Maybe even more.

* * *

 _Maybe I'll write another chapter, I'm not sure yet..._


End file.
